Microsoft update crashes Windows OS

Aharon Etengoff, 1st December 2009

A security company known as Prevx claims to have identified the latest cause of Microsoft's black screen of death (BlSoD).

According to David Kennerley, the current pandemic of system crashes was triggered by a series of Windows updates that altered the "lock down" of critical registry entries. ?"This change has the effect of invalidating several key registry entries if they are updated without consideration of the new ACL rules being applied," Kennerley wrote in an official blog post. ??"For reference the rule change does not appear to have been publicized adequately, if at all, with the recent Windows updates."

He added that Prevx had identified at least 10 different scenarios with the potential to trigger similar black screen conditions.

"There appears to be many causes of of the black screen issue. After starting your Windows 7, Vista, XP, NT, W2K, W2K3 or W2K8 PC or server the system appears normal. However, after logging on there is no desktop, task bar, system tray or side bar. Instead you are left with a totally black screen and a single 'My Computer' Explorer window. Even this window might be minimized, making it hard to see.

"If your black screen woes began in the last 2 weeks after a Windows update or after running any security program (including Prevx) to remove malware during this time then this fix will have a high probability of working."

Update:

Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating reports of recent security updates causing serious problems for some users.

"[We are] investigating reports that [our] latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers," the company said in an official statement obtained by CNET. "Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues. " ??